Another tragedy for the "WTF?" files

[Caliga]

Eight people killed

I can't understand how someone could possibly get on the freeway going the wrong way and not immediately realize it.  Then again, I have never driven on the Taconic Parkway (though had driven through the area many times), and my dad told me once it was a total piece of crap that should be avoided at all costs.

Before Taconic crash, mom Diane Schuler told brother she wasn't feeling well
BY Samuel Goldsmith
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Updated Monday, July 27th 2009, 1:14 PM

The driver who went the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway Sunday night causing a horrific crash called her brother two hours earlier to tell him she didn't feel well, police revealed Monday.

Diane Schuler, 36, of West Babylon called her brother, Warren Hance, as she drove home from a camping trip in Sullivan County with her two children and Hance's three daughters.

Hance, who lives in Floral Park and owns the Ford minivan, told his sister to pull over and wait for him to come pick them up, police said, but Schuler kept driving.

She entered the north-bound Taconic at Pleasantville Road just after 1 p.m. and drove south for almost two miles before smashing into an oncoming Chevy SUV carrying three people.

Everyone died except for Schuler's 5-year-old son Brian, who is in stable condition at Westchester Medical Center.

"At this point in our investigation, we do not know what caused the operator of the minivan to travel the wrong way," said Michael Realmuto, a captain with the State Police. "We are awaiting autopsy reports and toxicology reports."

"She called her brother because she just wasn't feeling well," added Office James Murphy, who is leading the investigation. "It was obvious that something was wrong because her brother did state he would come get them," he said.

Schuler's passengers were identified as her daughter, Erin Schuler, 2, and her nieces, Emma Hance, 9, Alison Hance, 7, and Kate Hance, 5.

Police said at least six separate witnesses called 911 to report a van driving the wrong way on the Taconic on Sunday.

Several drivers passing Schuler flashed their lights and honked to get her attention.

Police identified the three victims in the SUV as Guy Bastardi, 49, his father, Michael Bastardi, 81 and Daniel Longo.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/07/27/2009-07-27_before_taconic_crash_mom_diane_schuler_told_brother_she_wasnt_feeling_well.html#ixzz0MTzU7zLL

[KRonn]

This is so sad.     I can't imagine the heartache and horrors the families are going through.

[DGuller]

I was going to post this and make a joke about women drivers, but then the thought of four children dying kind of stopped me from doing that.  Something must've been seriously wrong with her head to drive two miles the wrong way.

[Caliga]

I was going to post this and make a joke about women drivers, but then the thought of four children dying kind of stopped me from doing that.  Something must've been seriously wrong with her head to drive two miles the wrong way.

The woman driver joke crossed my mind too, and I knew eventually someone would make the reference.

[DGuller]

Talk about hell on earth for the brother of that woman driver.  He loses three children, and his sister is the one who went out of her way to accomplish that.  How can you keep on living after something like that happens?

[Siege]

So, people flashed their lights and honked at her, and she just kept driving?

Was she trying to commit suicide?

[Caliga]

Yeah, especially as he actually told her to pull over (i.e. he sensed the problem).  The guilt must be overwhelming. 

Anyway, is the Taconic Parkway really a total piece of crap then, as my dad says?  I wonder if maybe the ramps aren't marked very well.  There was an onramp for 495 near Worcester, Mass. that I recall being marked fairly poorly, but I never came close to actually getting on via the offramp.

[Caliga]

So, people flashed their lights and honked at her, and she just kept driving?

Was she trying to commit suicide?

Given the details we know, I don't think that's possible.  I think she must have been having some sort of a psychological episode but didn't intend for this to happen.

[Caliga]

I'm just gonna go ahead and slip this story into the thread, since it seems to fit the subject perfectly.  This sounds like that rare defendant who can actually successfully employ an insanity defense.

Police: Woman accused of killing newborn ate brain
By PAUL J. WEBER (AP) – 8 minutes ago

SAN ANTONIO — A woman charged with murdering her 3 1/2-week-old son used a knife and two swords to dismember the child and ate parts of his body, including his brain, before stabbing herself in the torso and slicing her own throat, police said Monday.

Otty Sanchez, 33, is charged with capital murder in the death of her infant son, Scott Wesley Buchholtz-Sanchez. She was recovering from her wounds at a hospital, and was being held on $1 million bail.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said the early Sunday morning attack occurred a week after the child's father moved out. Otty Sanchez's sister and her sister's two children, ages 5 and 7, were in the house, but none were harmed.

Otty Sanchez's aunt, Gloria Sanchez, said her niece had been "in and out" of a psychiatric ward, and that the hospital called several months ago looking to check up on her. She did not elaborate on the nature of her niece's health problems.

"Otty didn't mean to do that. She was not in her right mind," a sobbing Gloria Sanchez told The Associated Press on Monday by phone. She said her family was devastated.

McManus, who appeared uncomfortable as he addressed reporters, said Sanchez apparently ate the child's brain and some other body parts. She also decapitated the infant, tore off his face and chewed off three of his toes before stabbing herself.

"It's too heinous for me to describe it any further," McManus said.

McManus described the crime scene as so grisly that police officers barely spoke to each other while looking through the house. Parts of the child were missing, including pieces that Sanchez allegedly ate.

"At this particular scene you could have heard a pin drop," McManus said. "No one was speaking. It was about as somber as it could have been."

Officers called to Sanchez's house at about 5 a.m. Sunday found her sitting on the couch screaming "I killed my baby! I killed my baby!" McManus said. They found the boy's body in a bedroom.

Police said Sanchez said the devil told her to kill her son and that she was hearing voices.

"It was a spontaneous utterance," McManus said.

Police said Sanchez did not have an attorney, and they declined to identify family members who might speak on her behalf.

No one answered the door Monday at Sanchez's one-story home, where the blinds were shut. A hopscotch pattern and red hearts were drawn on the walk leading up to the house.

Neighbor Luis Yanez, 23, said his kids went to school with one of the small children who lived at the house. He said he often saw a woman playing outside with the children but didn't know whether it was Otty.

"Why would you do that to your baby?" said Yanez, a tire technician. "It brings chills to you. They can't defend themselves."

Authorities said Sanchez and her sister took turns watching the baby Sunday morning, and that the boy was placed in Sanchez's care at about 1:30 a.m. Her sister discovered what happened about three hours later and called police.

Investigators are looking into whether postpartum depression could have played a role in the attack, McManus said. Authorities said they were looking into Sanchez's mental health history to see if there was anything "significant" but did not elaborate.

Associated Press researcher Susan James contributed to this report from New York.

[Valmy]

Otty Sanchez's aunt, Gloria Sanchez, said her niece had been "in and out" of a psychiatric ward

I love how psyhiatric wards are not allowed to hold the insane against their will.  Of course as soon as somebody says 'I think I do have some problems, I probably should not be allowed out in public unsupervised' they are probably not insane anymore.

[DGuller]

Screw you, Caliga, I paid a lot of money for that lunch that I just lost.

[Caliga]

Screw you, Caliga, I paid a lot of money for that lunch that I just lost.

If you convert to the Church of the Holy Gas Station Cafe, your food will cost less and taste better.

[KRonn]

Oh man, that second story is so nasty....     Yeah, has to be an actual insanity case, unlike the ones where the defendant wishes he/she could plead that way.

[Caliga]

Oh man, that second story is so nasty....     Yeah, has to be an actual insanity case, unlike the ones where the defendant wishes he/she could plead that way.

Yes, it's so far out of the ballpark that I don't think 'Satan', I think 

P.S. kat doesn't know how to spell 'cthulhu'. 

[Malthus]

Screw you, Caliga, I paid a lot of money for that lunch that I just lost.

If you convert to the Church of the Holy Gas Station Cafe, your food will cost less and taste better.

Hey, they could just grill his lunch up and serve it to him again. No-one would know the difference.